6 July 15, 2018 France to Face Croatia for Belgium Overcome England 2-0 World Cup Title to Take Third Place World Cup ST PETERSBURG (Dispatch- Hazard and De Bruyne a con- es) - England finished their World stant threat with their vision and Cup campaign with a 2-0 defeat movement. to Belgium in St Petersburg in the Eleven minutes before half- World Cup third place play-off. time, Alderweireld went desper- scored Bel- ately close to making it 2-0 when gium’s opener in the fourth min- his volley finished on the roof of ute and added a the net after ’ late second in what was a fairly mis-hit volley fell into his path. comfortable victory for Roberto Southgate made two changes at Martinez’s team. half-time with Marcus Rashford This win gives Belgium its and Jesse Lingard replacing Ra- best-ever performance at the heem Sterling and Danny Rose. tournament. Its previous high The versatile Fabian Delph was fourth in 1986 after losing switched to left wing-back but MOSCOW (Dispatches) — they always have the mentality to the playoff to France 4-2 in extra it was on the opposite flank that France or Croatia will become the come back,” Mbappe said of the time. Belgium’s Eden Hazard, left, celebrates with teammates after scoring England breached the Belgian fourth different European country Croatian team. “It’s a team that England finish fourth, equal- his side’s second goal during the third place match between England backline with a driving run from to become world champion in a plays with a lot of intensity.” ling their best ever achieve- and Belgium at the St. Petersburg Stadium. Kieran Trippier before he over- streak started when Italy beat the France last won the World Cup ment at an overseas World Cup ran the ball with the goal in his French in the 2006 final. title in 1998, at home. The French and surpassing all reasonable knockout stages. was ripped apart by the pace and sights. France’s Kylian Mbappe has defeated Croatia in the semifinals people’s pre-tournament predic- Kane missed a glorious chance precision of their opponents. After John Stones was booked electrified the World Cup with his that year, which until now had tions. Having said that, given in the first half and Lukaka Lukaku found for wrestling Hazard, Belgium speed and youthful exuberance. been the country’s best showing how the draw panned out, this fluffed his lines in the second. charging down the left and when were caught napping when Lin- Croatia’s Luka Modric has coolly at the tournament. was a par result. However, it was the artistry he squared the ball, Meunier gard ran onto a quickly-taken controlled matches in Russia with The heads of state from both Beyond results, however, they of pair Kevin nipped in ahead of a dawdling throw-in and his cross-shot his graceful play in the middle. countries are expected to sit with played or at least acted with a De Bruyne and Hazard which Danny Rose to beat Jordan Pick- flashed across the face of goal Whether France wins its second Putin. Will Smith is set to head- personality that rekindled their proved the difference between ford from close range. just eluding the lunging Kane. title in 20 years or Croatia raises line the closing ceremony. country’s affection for their na- the two sides with the Chelsea Pickford, who has started all Then in the 56th minute Lu- the trophy for the first time Sun- Croatia, a country of 4.5 million man sealing Belgium’s win, run- seven England games, prevented tional team and that will be the kaku should have narrowed the day at the Luzhniki Stadium in people which gained indepen- ning on to the latter’s exquisite Belgium from extending their abiding memory for them from gap on Kane in the race to finish front of Russian President Vladi- dence from the former Yugosla- the 2018 World Cup. pass to fire past Pickford. lead with a fine save to foil De the tournament’s top scorer. mir Putin and nearly a billion via only 27 years ago, enters the England improved dramati- England had hit the ground run- Bruyne after two defenders had De Bruyne slipped a superb television viewers could turn on final after playing three straight cally in the second half and Eric ning in the vast majority of their failed to cut out Lukaku’s pass. pass through but the Manches- Dier will still be wondering how World Cup games but their first Ruben Loftus Cheek and Harry ter United man’s first touch was the play of the two stars. extra-time matches, including two he failed to score. half performance against the Maguire had efforts on goal but poor, allowing Pickford to gath- The 19-year-old Mbappe has nerve-racking penalty shootouts. He had one shot saved by Belgians was comfortably their neither seriously tested Thibaut er. been the biggest sensation at In all three of those matches, Thibaut Courtois and headed least convincing of the tourna- Courtois. That was to prove Lukaku’s the tournament in Russia, scor- Croatia has had to recover from narrowly wide but in the 69th ment. But in the 24th minute, England last significant action at Russia ing three goals — including two being a goal down. The players minute, only a magnificent goal- They found themselves behind should have equalised. Sterling 2018. On the hour mark, he was against Argentina in the round of never gave up. line clearance by his Tottenham after just four minutes when brilliantly set up Kane but the replaced by , dash- 16 — and creating havoc for op- “When you put the sacred Croa- club-mate Meunier struck Belgium’s fast- striker was off balance when he ing his chances of winning the posing defenses with his pace and tia shirt on you become a differ- denied him after he’d dinked the est-ever World Cup goal. shot and his finish from just in- individual goalscoring award. his agility. ent person,” Croatia ball over the keeper. Incredibly, he became the tenth side the boss flashed wise. After Dier’s trio of chances and “It’s going to be the biggest Ivan Rakitic said through a trans- The match was billed as a Belgian player to find the net in Gareth Southgate’s side Pickford’s save to foil Meunier, match of my life, for sure,” the lator. “I’m not trying to say it’s a shoot-out between Kane and the past five weeks. matched Belgium in terms of England’s hopes of going home Paris Saint-Germain forward superior feeling that the French Romelu Lukaky who had four The Three Lions defence had possession but were far less in- with bronze medals ended when said. have for France, or Russians for goals to his name but none in the previously looked so solid but ventive in the final third with Hazard pounced. Although Mbappe has im- Russia. pressed for France at the month- “The best feeling is to be Croat long tournament, Modric has these days and this is the source Djokovic Beats Nadal in Five-Set Epic to Reach Final been the rock and the spark for of all our strength.” LONODN (Dispatches) - Novak urday, but Djokovic fought back Croatia. When the Real Madrid While Croatia had to rally to midfielder has the ball at feet, keep advancing, France won all Djokovic is one match away from a to take his second match point to good things seem to happen for three of its knockout games in the first Grand Slam title since 2016 af- edge a dramatic decider. Croatia. regulation 90 minutes and trailed ter an epic five-set win over Rafael This was Nadal and Djokovic’s “Even when you think they’re for only nine of the 540-plus min- Nadal in their delayed Wimbledon 52nd meeting - more than any going to lose, or going to crack, utes it has been on the field. semifinal. other two men in the Open era - Djokovic, who won 6-4 3-6 7-6 and the pair did not disappoint as (11-9) 3-6 10-8 in five hours and they finally resumed their long- Real Madrid Issue Second 16 minutes, will face Kevin An- standing rivalry on the Grand Slam derson on Sunday. stage. Denial The Serb led by two sets to one With 29 major titles between when play stopped at 23:02 BST them, two of the game’s all-time on Friday. greats had not faced each other Spain’s Nadal broke twice in the this deep in a major since the 2014 Former world number one Novak Djokovic has slipped to 21 in the rankings after elbow surgery fourth set when it resumed on Sat- French Open final. Groenewegen Sprints to Victory on Stage Seven LONDON (Dispatches) - Dylan Groenewegen took an emphatic win in a bunch sprint finish on stage seven of the Tour de France as Team Sky’s Geraint Thomas stayed second overall. Team LottoNL-Jumbo’s Groenewegen pulled clear of Fernando Gaviria to win comfortably and deny the Colombian a third stage win at this year’s race. Peter Sagan was third as the sprinters tussled in a late frenzy in Chartres after 231km that lacked drama. Madrid (Dispatches) - Real Ma- record £200m from Barcelona last Britain’s Mark Cavendish appeared in contention but slipped to drid have again denied “constant summer and scored two goals at reports” linking them with a move the World Cup to help Brazil to 10th late on. for Paris St-Germain striker Ney- the quarter-finals. Cavendish, who is chasing a 31st stage win to close on the Tour mar. “The two clubs enjoy an excel- record of 34 held by Belgian , said a late collision The Champions League win- lent relationship and, as such, if hampered his finish but conceded other teams are in better form. ners had already described reports Real Madrid were at any stage to “I was following quite good wheels but it was choppy,” said Team linking them with the Brazil man, consider securing the services of a Dimension Data rider Cavendish, 33. 26, as “outright false” on 2 July. PSG player, they would approach “I went to go but Quick-Step and Bora-Hansgrohe just seem to “It was a long day in the saddle - the final was super fast and “Real Madrid wish to clarify that the club in the first instance,” the have another level. stressful but that’s another day done,” Thomas told BBC Radio 5 the club has no intention of mak- club statement went on. ing any offer for the player,” the A Spanish television report had “I kicked but couldn’t match them.855 I had a little coming to- live. club said. claimed Real had offered 310m gether at the end, it may have been my fault and it stopped me dead “The first week has been good but it would have been nice to wear It comes after Real denied earlier euros (£275m) for the forward, in my tracks.” the yellow jersey. I could have not asked for much more, though.” this month they had agreed a deal who scored 28 goals in 30 games Welshman Thomas is now six seconds behind Fellow Britons Adam Yates and four-time winner Chris Froome to sign PSG and France forward for French champions PSG last in the leader’s yellow jersey after the BMC rider surged off the finished safely in the bunch and remain 13th and 14th respectively, Kylian Mbappe. season and has been regularly front of the peloton to take three seconds at a bonus sprint point. one minute five seconds behind Van Avermaet. Neymar joined PSG for a world linked with a move to Real.